BIRDS OF FIELD AND GARDEN. 293 
the hope that wherever it still remains people may be induced 
to provide tenements for it and protect it from the Sparrow, 
and so assist it to increase in numbers. 
This sprightly little bird seeks the homes of man partly 
because of the nesting places afforded by the hollow trees 
of the orchard, and partly because of the number of insects 
it finds about house, barn, orchard, and garden. Its pert 
appearance, as it dashes about with short, upraised tail; 
its bubbling, ecstatic song; its sharp, scolding notes, as it 
creeps about the wood pile or berates the family cat, — 
were once familiar sights and sounds, not only about the 
farmhouse, but even in city yards and gardens, for, until the 
Sparrow came, the Wren was in many localities a common 
village and city bird. A valiant little warrior, it is well 
able to protect its young against the intrusion of other small 
native birds, and has even been known to defend its home 
successfully against the dreaded cat; but it has given ground 
before the Sparrow mob, and is now rarely seen in the 
cities. The few individuals now left nest mainly in remote 
orchards. 
Its alarm note is a sharp chirp, but its song is an inde- 
scribable burst of melody. It bubbles forth as if the bird 
were too full of joyous music to express it properly, for the 
sweet and pent-up notes seem to crowd each other in the 
attempt to escape from longer confinement. In this respect 
the music is much like that of the Bobolink, but it is entirely 
different in quality. In spring the males sing a large part 
of the time. 
The Wren is one of the most active of birds, and when its 
large and growing family is in the nest it is almost continu- 
ally occupied in searching the shrubbery, orchard, wood pile, 
fence, or wall, as well as. the vegetables in the garden, for 
insects. Nest building gives scope to its feverish industry, 
and a single pair will sometimes build two or three nests at 
almost the same time, if they can find convenient receptacles. 
for them. 
' It is almost entirely beneficial in its food habits. Pro- 
fessor Beal finds that ninety-eight per cent. of its sustenance 
consists of animal matter, composed of insects and their allies, 
